The company behind the old Star Wars and Star Trek CCGs, which ran into various business issues in the past (that I assumed meant we had seen the last of them) is releasing… something. What is that something? It’s still fairly mysterious, but damn if it isn’t ambitious.
Let me see if I can try to parse what I read from the website. They’re making a new CCG. It will feature a bunch of licenses (as many as they can get their hands on) and, well, they won’t be the usual ones. (The one actual card I found on the site is from Reservoir Dogs.) It won’t be sold in stores; it will be shipped right from Decipher. You don’t buy booster packs, you buy “Kilos” which are 121 cards. It will have a pyramid scheme where you invite new players, and then receive a percentage of what they spend on cards. They’re encouraging viral marketing (and the whole thing has a viral marketing feel to it anyway.) There will be gangs/territories, like a cross between the RPGA regions and MMO guilds. Like all their previous games, they’re going to hire models to be their booth babes, a fact they advertise fairly prominently (way to immediately alienate an audience, Decipher.)
Completely absent from the site is ANYTHING ABOUT GAMEPLAY, other than a vague opening about it being a ” wonderful addition to your gaming lifestyle.” What you can find, however, are plenty of comments left from potential players who seem less than excited.
Without more info, of course, I can’t judge this on any level other than “ambitious.” I like the idea of a game with tons of licenses and some of the community stuff, but am completely put off by the models, pyramid scheme, and decision to cut out the Friendly Local Game Stores across the country who did so much for the company previously. Time will tell if non-digital CCGs are ready to make the jump to an internet-supplied business model.
At this point, I’m willing to boycott any gaming product that needlessly cuts out the FLGS. Partly this is just my love and appreciation for my own, my friendship with the owners and regulars, and so on.
I’m also always suspicious of anything that does a lot of marketing and not a lot of telling me what the heck it is that they’re marketing. I smell snake oil.
I like how when you join a gang, you are stuck with that gang “4 life”. Not.
What’s holding up this game is licensing, pure and not so simple. Decipher has the game setup, they just have to fill in the blanks. They have a primary title or two in mind for each card, and a list of alternates. They have to know what’s going into each card so the game can be balanced; is this card going to have Darth Vader (not going to happen) or Strawberry Short Cake? The licensing thing is fickle and different from title to title. To make the game work they need the license for A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J. Studio #1 has the rights to A,C,E,F and wants mono money whether it’s worth it or not. Studio #2 has the rights for B and H, but has black listed Decipher in the past and also wants lots of money. Studio #3 is open to the idea for licensing for G & I but needs to be shown what Decipher can do for profit returns for them. The group with the rights for J like the idea of licensing it, but have no resources to do so***. License A has extensive talent approval required (e.g: Star Trek), and some of those actors are very slow to respond and have ego’s to cater to and asses to be kissed. License G has to be shown that Decipher can uphold their creative standards of excellence (e.g: Weta LOTR) which is expensive and takes time, but D is up to that. Then Studio #1 calls and says they want more money for license A (e.g: Viacom & Star Trek: Alternate Universe) regardless of the initial license agreement. This is why Decipher has indeed a game developed, but has nothing to show the public.
There’s also the production hard truth: Decipher is no longer the 75+ company that made SW, ST, LOTR, etc. They have had massive layoff’s & walkoff’s so they are a crew of about 7+ – full time. All the Tom’s, Chuck’s, Jerry’s, Bill’s, Justin’s, Brad’s, Dave’s, Joe’s, Rob’s, etc. that made those games are all gone (though a very few have advised D on this game). What’s left is mostly the CEO & VP’s, the group that made Pente. What they have chosen to do with Fight Klub is a tough road. It’s likely that Decipher will eventually produce a game that hopefully won’t be too handicapped by concessions made to fill in the licensing gaps. It will take a long time to release and probably won’t live up to the hype.
*** This is the fate of what would have been the greatest Star Wars: CCG expansion that never was. Space Balls: The CCG. Lucasfilm was high on Decipher’s SW:CCG success, and OK’d Space Balls to the surprise of all involved. Mel Brooks had agreements that he could make the Space Balls movie as long as there was no merchandising (contrary to the story). When D contacted Mel Brook’s people, they had no resources to give to make the game, and the set was called off. Sad but true; moment of silence… This is the game that D should make now (has it been done elsewhere?) with the aid of Space Balls: The DVD. Decipher isn’t in good standings w/ Lucasfilm anymore and Lucasfilm is very pricey.
From what I remember: Decipher lost the Star Wars license to their biggest competetor. Wizards of the Coast – owned by Hasbro – who’s largest share holder happens to be George Lucas. WotC destroyed the licence by creating an absolutly childish and mundane dice game out of it. It was their move into the Wally-Mart market. Shameful. But regardless Decipher’s stand with Lucasfilms ended rocky and I don’t think either party was/is willing to try a reconciliation. Bottom line: Lucas F’d up when he refused to renew the licence in the first place. It still is the greatest CCG ever seen.
At long last, this game is finally shipping to players worldwide this month. The product looks great, and those of us who made that leap of faith by joining in as “Founding Mentors” have a pretty good idea of what the gameplay is like. I think it’s brilliant. Simple (playable in as little as 15 minutes), and at the same time there’s room for loads of strategy. Basically, each round is a set of three skirmishes, and the person who wins two out of three gets to score damage. But there’s a LOT more to it than that! Elements such as The Drop, Raising the Stakes, Clash cards, etc. all provide different strategies in how to take down your opponent.
I have to say, the licenses have turned out much better than I anticipated! Rambo, The Terminator, Hannibal Lecter and Jason Voorhees (from Friday the 13th fame) are all in there, among several other notables. We’ve got rules for multiplayer brawls, and I’ve read hints that there will soon be rules for teamups and/or sidekicks. Good stuff is in the works!
Why not check it out for yourself? Head to http://www.decipher.com, and let them know that (redacted) sent you!
Nearly one year after I post this, and the thing is finally released. (How does Decipher survive, anyway?) Now every place I look at reviews, I find at least one spammy-sounding message (like the one above) encouraging you to sign up and use their code so they can get their cut. Bleh. Not only is it a pyramidish scheme, it’s one that encourages spamming. Just what we needed.
Additionally, their website is blocked off unless you use someone’s handle. Quite unfortunate, but I have to just wait and see this endeavor I previously deemed “ambitious” to collapse in upon itself.
Fight Klub was released this weekend. Go to the website and check it out. Use my name to get in.
Over/under until how long until these comments are locked to prevent every Decipher wahoo from here to Tatooine from schilling their name?
(I promise not to do it myself.)
Apparently they’re SLAMMING Boardgamegeek, and the moderators are killing the threads as soon as they spot them.
In solidarity, I’m performing some edits, and will make any necessary edits on future comments.
See I was really hoping this would not happen. Now the Fight Klub FM’s are likened unto locusts.
I was able to sign up by using the handle “decipher” which allows you to forgo the need to be invited. Also, it prevents the pyramid scheme part. However, whether or not you sign up because you know someone or go directly with decipher, you will still be paying the same amount for the cards. It’s not really that shady. I’m not ready to buy any cards yet, but I think the lack of expense for the game sounds nice.